Turbine.



PATENTBD APR. 21, 190s.

J. MERGER.

- TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 20, 1902.

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PATENTED. APR. 21.1903. I J. MERGER.

TURBINE. APPL'I'OATION IILEDOOT. 20. 1902.

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PATBNTED APR. ,21',=1903.

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TURBINE. APPLICATION PILEED OCT. 20. 1902.

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VUNITEHD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN MERGER, OF LISOARD, ENGLAND.

TURBINE.

S PECIFICATI ON: forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 726,179, dated April 21, 1903.

' Application filed October 20, 1902. Serialllb. 128,065. (No modeLf To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MERCER, engineer, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing in Liscard, in the county of Chester, in the Kingdom of England, (whose full postal address is 8 Magazine Lane, Liscard, aforesaid,) have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Connected with Turbines, (for which application has been made in Great Britain, No. 6,970, dated March 21, 1902,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to turbines for driving ships, for operating dynamos, and for any other like purposes, and has for its objects to improve and simplify their construction and in some cases to render very high speeds unnecessary. v

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view of my improved turbine in which one set of vanes are stationary; Fig. 2, a vertical section of, my improved turbine in which both sets of vanes are keyed to revolv ing shafts; Fig. 3, a vertical section of my improved turbine with means for reversing its direction of rotation; Fig. 4, a sectional plan thereof, half of which shows the vanes for obtaining a forward rotation and the other half the vanes for obtaining a reverse movement.

My improved turbine is of the class known as radial-flow turbines, in which the actuating fluid travels from the center radially outward toward the circumference. During its passage it expands and obtains great velocity,'impinging on the rings of vanes, causing thelatter to rotate, and being finally exhausted from the outside of the casing, which incloses the vaned disks, to the atmosphere or to a condenser or to a low-pressure turbine.

Referring first to Fig. l, a'cylindrical c'a's ing A is employed, having annular rows of vanes B projecting out from its end walls on the inside,'and a vane-disk O is mounted within'tliis casing on a driving-shaft D, which passes through suitable stufilng-boxes E in the casing ends. The disk is provided with annular rows of vanes F on each side, and these work between the rings of vanes B on the casing ends, so that-the ringof vanes on one part alternatewith the rings of vanes on the other part; but they do not touch each other, although the vanes of the difierent annular rows are as close to one another as they can be without touching. Each vane is curved to a nearly-semicircular bend and are near together, so that they leave narrow curved spaces or passages between them for the steam or other fluid to act in, as shown in sectional plan in Fig. 4. The curvatures of the vanes of the disk 0 are reversed'to the curvatures of the vanes of the stationary part A. One set of vanes which project from the innerfaces of the casing are stationary, and the steam is admitted through a passage G into the center H of the casing around the shaft D and passes through suitable diverge'ntnozzles I, which direct the steam against the moving vanes F, so as to rotate them and with them the disk() and spindle D. The respective vanes are so arranged relatively to the nozzles thatthe actuating fluid will impinge against the vanes at approximately right angles. The fixed vanes B serve as guides to cause the steam after leaving one ring of moving vanes to impinge in the right direction a'ga'instthe next ring of moving vanes F, and so on, the exhaust-steam'finally escaping through the discharge-orifice X. Passages J are formed through the vane-disk C, near the center thereof, in order to give the steam access to both sides of the disk, or a separate inlet G may be provided in the casing on each side of the disk, both inlets in this latter case preferably communicating with the one regulating-valve. The shaft D is preferably extended at K, somewhat reducod in diameter, through the opposite end of the casing from the driving end and is provided with a pulley Y, by'which it can be connected to a speed-indicator. Z represents thrust-bearings for the shaft on which the disk is mounted.

In Fig. 2 the casing A is simply an inclosing chamber with plain walls. In this casing a vane-,disk O is mounted -on-- a central shaft D, and two facing disks L' L, having rings of vanes M, are arranged to cooperate with said vane-disk 0, one upon each side-of the latter. One of the said facing disks,"L, is

mounted on a hollow shaft N, which isfitted as a sleeve around'th'e shaft'D of the vanedisk 0, and the other facing disk,L, is connected to the first one outside the periphery of the central vane-disk O by means of any desired number of cross-ties O. The said second facing disk L has also a hollow shaft P, which is supported in a bearing Q of the end wall of the casing A and through which passes the extension of the central shaft K, which operates the indicator. Steam is admitted through the said hollow shaft by a pipe connection G, having a gland R, which fits over the end of shaft P, and the steam passes into the turbine along the interior of said hollow shaft P around the indicating-shaft extension K and is distributed from the central chamber H of the turbine through suitablydirected nozzles I against the vanes of the disk 0 and facing disks L L, after passing radially through which it is ultimetely discharged from the outlet-orifice X at the circumference of the casing. In this turbine there are no fixed or stationary vanes; but the'central vane-disk C and the two coacting disks L L revolve in opposite directions.- The steam impinging against the vanes works its way from the center toward the circumference through all the rings of vanes, the central shaft D being thus turned in one direction and the hollow surrounding shaft P in the other. If a ship is to be driven, a screw-propeller is mounted on the end of, say, shaft D and a screw-propeller on the end of the othershaft Nat a suitable distance or interval in front of or behind the former, the blades of each being so arranged that although revolving in opposite directions they will act to propel the vessel in the same direction. The other shaft P runs idle, but can be used, if desired, for working a pump or other apparatus. The hollow driving-shaft N must of course be packed at S and made to fit steamtight around the solid shaft D, upon which the central vane-disk O is fixed, and the other hollow shaft upon which the other facing disk is mounted is suitably packed in thecasing ends. Z represents thrust-blocks for preventing longitudinal movement of the hollow shaft N, and Z a thrust-block for preventing longitudinal movement of the shaftD. It will be noticed, further, that as the facing disks L L are fastened together by cross-ties one on each side of the center disk there is no end thrust due to the pressure of the actuating fluid in the turbine in either direction upon the shafts, because the lateral pressure of the actuating fluid on one disk is counterbalanced by the lateral pressure on the other disk. Hence the disks are in equilibrium. This balancing of the disks insures that there will be little or no end thrust on the shafts when the turbine is at work.

If a turbine is required in which reverse rotation may be produced for backing a ship, for i.1stance, this may be obtained in the manner depicted in Figs. 3 and 4. On the outer faces of the facing vane-disks L L described in the last form of construction a further series of vane-rings T is formed, and fixed vanes U are formed on the end walls A of the casing, between which the outer vanes T on the facing disks L L are adapted to work. The steam for the forward travel is admitted as before through hollow shaft 1 to the central turbine-chamber H, from which it passes through inclined nozzles I, which guide it to strike the vanes B tangentially, and it passes through between the vanes, proceeding radially toward the circumference in a serpentine course, thus rotating the vanes B and U in opposite directions, together with their shafts. On the shaft D a propeller with right-handed blades is secured and on the shaft N a propeller with left-hand blades. When the propelleron shaft D is being driven forward, the propeller on the other shaft revolvesin the opposite direction, but the blades being left-handed act to propel the vessel in the forward directionthat is to say, they are both in harness on the forward direction, although the propellers revolve in opposite directions. When backward rotation is required, steam is shut off from the main inlet G and is admitted through suitable side passages V in the casing ends around the hollow shaft P, whence it passes by suitable nozzles W, inclined in a different direction to nozzles I, to the backward-travel vanes T, thus causing the hollow driving-shaft N and its propeller to rotate backward and reverse the movement of the ship, the propeller on shaft D in the meantime running idle. The forward-travel vanes are of course arranged the reverse way to the backward-travel vanes and the respective nozzles made to correspond thereto. The hollow shaft P is to be used for working a pump or other purpose. In eithercase, whether working forward or backward, the exhaust of the steam from the out side of the casing causes an almost complete vacuum in the other set of vanes which are not in operation, so that there is very little resistance to rotation in the said non-working vanes, because the same exhaust-passage serves for withdrawing steam from the casing in whichever direction the vane-disks are rotating. If a condenser is used, this exhaust action is made the more complete. than one outlet-orifice X may be made in the outer wall of the casing A in order to take away the exhaust from different parts of the casing. The number of disks 0 may also be multiplied as required, the lateral ones being connected at the outer edges by tie-bolts O and the intermediate ones being rigidly mounted on the solid central shaft D.

I declare that what I claim is- 1. A steam or other turbine, comprising a stationary, cylindrical casing provided with rings of vanes upon its inner faces, a vanedisk mounted inside the casing upon an axial shaft, annular walls on the said casing forming hollow chambers being at the center of the casing, the walls of said chambers having nozzle-passages for permitting the steam to gain access to the spaces between the easing-walls outside the said chambers, the easing being formed with a passage-way sur- More to the nozzles so that it mayhave access to.

the vanes of the disks, substantially as described.

3.A steam or like turbine, comprising a stationary cylindrical casing, a rotary disk mounted inside the casing, an axial shaft carrying the same, rotary disks mounted one on each side of the center disk and connected at their peripheries, rings of vanes projecting from the opposing faces of the center disk and the peripherally-connected disks, rings of vanes projecting from the opposing faces of the casing-walls and the peripherally-connected disks and arranged the reverse way I to the other vanes, hollow axial journals or shafts projecting laterally from the connect ed disks, a center chamber or chambers being formed within the rotary disks, nozzles in thewalls of said chambers for guiding an actuating fluid against the vanes of one set of disks so as to rotate the center disk in one direction, there being also auxiliary center chambers formed, in the walls of which noz-- zles are arranged for leading an actuating fluid against the reverse vanes to reverse the action of the turbine when desired, substantially as described.

4. In a steam or like turbine, thecombina 40 tion of a stationary cylindrical casing, a rd tary disk mounted inside the casing on a center spindle, rotarydisks mounted one on each side of the center disks, rings of vanes projecting from each side of the said disks and from the end walls of the casing inside, hollow center spindles on which said facing disks are mounted, a center chamber with nozzles for guiding theactuating fluid in one direction against the vanes of the center disk so as to rotate it in one direction when the fluid is admitted thereto, andauxiliary center chambers with nozzles adapted when the other nozzles are shut off to lead the actuating fluid in the opposite direction against the vanes of the other rotary disks in such a manner as to obtain a reversal of the rotation.

5. Aturbine,comprising means for supporting a series of vanes therein, a. rotating'vane- 6o disk provided with vanes cooperating with the other vanes, annular walls'at the center of the turbine forming central cha'mbers around the central portion of the revolving vane-disk, said walls having directing-passages for admitting pressure to the vanes, the central portion of the revolving'vane-disk also being provided with passages for admit ting pressure from one of said central chambersto the other, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name, this 11th day of October, 1902, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN MERCER.

Witnesses:

G. O. DYMOND, FRED. P. EVANS. 

